Wife strangled during ‘conjugal visit’ with husband behind bars for quadruple murder, family says she was ‘pushing him to try to be this better person’

Insets: Stephanie Dowells and her husband David Brinson (KCRA/YouTube). Background: Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, Calif., where David Brinson allegedly strangled Stephanie Dowells (KCRA/YouTube).

Insets: Stephanie Dowells and her husband David Brinson (KCRA/YouTube). Background: Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, Calif., where David Brinson allegedly strangled Stephanie Dowells (KCRA/YouTube).

A California woman having a “conjugal visit” with her husband — a convicted killer serving four consecutive life terms for a quadruple murder — was strangled by the 54-year-old, which he tried to play off by saying she passed out, according to police.

David Brinson, an inmate at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, is accused of killing his wife Stephanie Dowells, 62, in November 2024 while the two of them were behind bars together late one night having their visit, according to the Amador County Sheriff’s Office and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).

Local NBC affiliate KCRA spoke to Dowells’ family about the alleged slaying, the cause of which was revealed by police Tuesday after a four-month investigation. They noted how it was surprising that someone with Brinson’s criminal history, which includes gunning down four people during a 1994 robbery, was able to have conjugal visits regardless of their relationship status.

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